None — Channel 9 discovered some Charlotte doctors are earning thousands of dollars from big drug companies.
Dozens of area doctors are included on a list put together by consumer watchdog group ProPublica that reveals how much each of them got last year from seven leading drug companies. Most of the payments come from consulting, advising or speaking at conferences, and the amounts vary from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.
"Any appearance of conflict needs to be addressed," Dr. Michael Miltich, with the Mecklenburg Medical Society, said.
Miltich spoke for the North Carolina Medical Society, which says a payment from drug company to a doctor "does not necessarily mean the relationship is inappropriate."
But Miltich said the size of those payments can raise some questions.
"Some of these numbers do raise an eyebrow and say, ‘Let's look at this a little bit deeper,'" he said.
Channel 9 tried doing that, calling about 10 doctors on the list who received $25,000 or more, including Dr. Richard Rachima, who accepted more than $147,000 from two drug companies last year. Eyewitness News was told that Rachima, who works at a clinic in Pineville, is too busy with patients to comment on the matter.
In fact, the only doctor who would discuss the payments was Dr. Gerald Aronoff, an expert in treating chronic pain. He got more than $65,000 from drug companies last year and said the money paid for the time he spent preparing and delivering lectures on pain management.
"I don't believe you should be," he said when asked if the public should be concerned. "The question is, ‘Are people doing anything wrong?'"
The American Medical Association warns that the payments to doctors "may create a relationship that can influence the use of the company's products."
Aronoff said that's not the case in his career.
"I know this is the perception and I can understand where that came from," he said. "(But) if you were to look at my prescribing habits, you would see that I'm just as likely to use other medications for similar conditions in other patients."
The state medical society said patients should ask their own doctors about any payments from drug companies and whether the money affects which drugs they're prescribing.
Novant and the Carolinas Healthcare System, which are Charlotte's two big hospital companies, said they don't have a problem with doctors getting paid by drug companies if they are working on their own time.